Will to Live
by DarthMittens
Summary: After being struck down by Aizen, Hitsugaya is saved by a human girl named Hinamori. It is then up to the two of them to amass a force great enough to storm Soul Society and take down Aizen once and for all. M for violence and language.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey there, me again with another HitsuHina story. Another multi-chaptered fic, don't know how long yet. But will most likely (as in 99% most likely) be longer than 'Veritas et Gaudium'.**

**On a special note, this will just be a short prologue, I promise the rest of the chapters of this story will be 2,000K+ words.**

**Warning: This story is rated M for language and violence. No smut will occur. And unfortunately, quite a few beloved Bleach characters will be dying in this story.**

**AU. Hinamori is not a Shinigami in this fanfiction. The battle against Aizen above fake Karakura Town goes a bit differently.**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

**Will to Live**

**Prologue: Things Look a Little Bleak**

Toushirou gripped Hyourinmaru harder in his hands, swallowing convulsively as he watched Aizen blow through the ranks of the Gotei 13 with ease. Tousen was dead and Ichimaru was watching the battle with that infuriating, ever-present grin on his face.

Everything seemed to travel in slow-motion as Soifon was taken down in one slash of Kyouka Suigetsu, Kyouraku and the Vizard Hirako Shinji quickly following suit...all with apparent ease, Aizen not even breaking a sweat. Toushirou and Ichigo looked much the same, both clutching their zanpakutou and watching on in fear and awe. The only reason Toushirou held back was because he wanted to truly gauge Aizen's strength. And the unfortunate truth was...

Toushirou didn't stand a chance against him.

So he just stood there as Aizen turned to Ichigo, going into a monologue, Ichigo's grip becoming tighter on his sword with each sentence. Until finally, Ichigo's hollow mask came on and he charged Aizen...only to take Kyouka Suigetsu through the stomach, the blood-stained sword coming out of his back.

As Ichigo fell limply to the ground over a hundred feet down, Toushirou could feel his reiatsu quickly fading. Soifon's, Kyouraku's, and Shinji's were already just about completely gone. There was no way those three would survive at this point...not without Unohana or Orihime appearing within the next few minutes. Everybody was down except for him, so naturally Aizen turned to face him next.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-kun, the child prodigy," said Aizen condescendingly. "Too bad you never got to grow up to reach your true potential. That would've been interesting to see."

Toushirou lifted Hyourinmaru, but before he could even open his mouth to say, "Bankai," he felt an intense pain in his stomach and back. Aizen had gotten him, too.

Toushirou coughed up some blood and weakly rose his sword to strike, though he knew it was futile. Aizen let the weak blow hit him, the blade not even cutting him. "Goodbye, Hitsugaya-kun," said Aizen one last time before punching him in the chest, the impact breaking every single one of his ribs and sending him flying.

For some reason, as he was flying through the air, Toushirou found himself thinking about the fun times spent with his Grandmother in the Soul Society. The only person who hadn't been afraid of him in the Soul Society until he met Matsumoto, who had encouraged him to become a Shinigami. He actually let out a gurgled chuckle as he thought of all the wacky antics his fukutaichou got up to.

He flew past one of the pillars into the outskirts of Karakura Town, his speed only reducing once he struck the ground full force, many more bones breaking.

It was quite miraculous, really, but Toushirou didn't really feel that bad. All he had to do was focus on staying awake and eventually finding help, and he might actually make it through this ordeal. But his body wasn't listening to his brain, and a hint of black began to encroach on his vision. Maybe he had been damaged so badly that it didn't hurt anymore.

Toushirou lifted one finger, thinking he might be able to pull this off. He could do it, he really could. But just then, he sensed a close-by reiatsu. Just a meager hollow. It turned the corner at the end of the block and looked right at him before beginning to stalk towards him. It was going to devour him.

How ironic. The youngest captain in the history of the Gotei 13 and he was going to be finished off by a hollow that barely even had more reiatsu than a human.

The black began to push inwards, sealing off more vision, and Toushirou gave up, hoping to at least beat this hollow by dying before it reached him. But no, Toushirou wasn't completely dead by the time the hollow reached him, its red eyes fixed on him. It reached a clawed hand toward him, and a bit more black swallowed some more vision. It was only centimeters away from grabbing him.

Toushirou felt a strong pull on Hyourinmaru, which was wrested from his grip. Out of the corner of his eye he was amazed to find a girl who only seemed to be a few years older than himself holding Hyourinmaru in an amateur's stance, her hair held back in a pale blue cloth.

She stood in between the broken Toushirou and the hollow, the zanpakutou held steady in her unwavering hands. The girl seemed to ooze determination. Determination for what, Toushirou did not know. She didn't seem to have a legitimate reason to be so determined.

The hollow reached a clawed hand toward the girl, who just barely managed to slice the hand off with her unpracticed swing. The hollow howled in agony, and Toushirou just barely managed to croak, "The face," loud enough for the girl to hear.

The girl, only hesitating for a second, lunged forward thrusted Hyourinmaru all the way to the hilt into the hollow's face, causing it to disintegrate.

Toushirou just managed to get one look at her face, the beautiful and breathtaking face of an angel, before the darkness claimed him.

**A/N: So what do you think? The beginnings to a great story and a great romance, no?**


	2. Hinamori Momo

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Keep it up: they are the fuel that feeds my writing fire!**

**Chapter 2 – Hinamori Momo**

Toushirou slowly surfaced, moaning in pain as his many injuries assaulted his nerve endings. Everything was blurry, but he could feel something cool and wet being pressed against his forehead and water trickling down his face from the source. He seemed to be on a bed of some sort for he felt a comfortable mattress below him, though there was no blanket above. He couldn't really hear anything but for his own breathing and the sound of what was being pressed repeatedly against his forehead, which Toushirou figured to be a cloth, being dunked in water. But the scent permeating his nostrils was intense. It smelled like peaches. And not just plain, run-of-the-mill peaches, but the most mouthwatering, most delicious, and most succulent peaches.

As his eyes finally grew accustomed to seeing again, he saw where he was. He was in a simple room, the walls plain white and a single bookcase at the foot of the bed. Other than that he couldn't see much, for he couldn't really turn his head.

_Wait...I-I'm alive?_

The fact that he was seeing and hearing and feeling and smelling was indeed confirmation of that astounding revelation. He had been on the brink of death...how was it even remotely possible that he was still alive?

"Oh, I see you're awake!" exclaimed an excited voice.

Toushirou just managed to barely turn his head enough to find the source of the voice. What greeted him was the most beautiful face he had ever seen, a smile and large chocolate-brown eyes that he could get lost in making it just that more perfect. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen in terms of human years. Who was she? Why was she taking care of him? What happened, and why couldn't he remember?

He tried his hardest to remember what had happened to have caused him to lose consciousness. They had been fighting Aizen, and...and everyone had been taken down, and...Kurosaki was run through, and then...he remembered being absolutely obliterated by Aizen, remembered the Hollow advancing on him...remembered an angel rescuing him.

"Who are you?" he asked, even though his Shinigami training told him to ask where he was first.

The girl smiled at him, a very open and inviting smile. "Hinamori Momo. And since I know you're going to ask it next, you're in my room in downtown Karakura Town," she said.

"I see..." said Toushirou weakly. He had so many questions running rampant through his head but decided to just ask them one by one. "You're human, correct?"

The girl raised an eyebrow before squinting at him. Finally, she laughed. "You're funny! I'm actually a monster from Mars here to devour your brain, you caught me. Which planet do you hail from?" she joked, obviously thinking he was doing the same. Definitely human.

So, she was a human who could see him. Interesting, very interesting. He moved on to the next question. "Why did you save me? I don't even know you."

"Well, I wasn't just going to watch someone die right in front of my eyes, was I?" she asked rhetorically. "Good thing you carry a katana on you, which I didn't even know was legal, or that animal probably would've killed both of us."

"Animal?" asked Toushirou, confused.

"Yeah," said Momo. "A weird one, though. Looked like a mutated bear or something, and how was it even still alive with that gaping hole in its chest?"."

All the while, Momo had been wetting Toushirou's head with the cloth. He decided to wait until later to address Hollows with this naïve and innocent human girl...if he even had to at all. She probably wouldn't even need a mind-wipe, what with her knowledge of mutated bears and all. "How did you heal me?" he asked next. "I was as good as dead."

Momo thought hard at this, her eyebrows meeting in the middle of her forehead. "I don't know, really. I took mandatory first-aid freshman year, but other than that...nothing," she said, shrugging. "I just focused on keeping you alive and, well..."

"Well, what?" asked Toushirou.

A faint red tinge crept up Momo's cheeks. "N-never mind, you wouldn't believe me anyway," she said quietly, looking away from Toushirou.

"I'll believe you," said Toushirou with surprising conviction.

Momo glanced up at him, trying to gauge the sincerity of his words. Finally deciding he was being honest, she said, "W-well, I...I put my hands over your wounds, and...and, well...they just healed on their own, even if they did heal slowly," she finished lamely, expecting to not be believed.

If Toushirou had been one to show much emotion, his jaw would've dropped. As it was, his eyes just widened a bit. This human was miraculous to have performed healing kido sufficient enough to heal fatal injuries, and with no previous experience and in a human body! Of course, once she had replenished his reiatsu it would've been easier, for his astronomical spiritual pressure would've supplemented hers to help heal his wounds. Nevertheless, this girl truly was impressive; on par with Kurosaki, if only in a different sense. Kurosaki was a master swordsman basically from the first time he had picked up a sword. This Hinamori girl definitely did not have as much natural talent in the swordsmanship area, yet if she learned spells and incantations could be a master of kido.

Toushirou's eyes refocused on Momo, whose cheeks were growing steadily redder. She obviously thought she hadn't been believed. "I believe you," Toushirou finally said, and Momo visibly relaxed. "Your hands also glowed green while it happened, didn't they?"

Momo's jaw did drop, and all she could do was nod and sputter, "B-b-but, w-what?..."

Toushirou sighed. Based on the skill and reiatsu this human girl had and the fact that he owed her an explanation, it looked like he was going to have to tell her everything. So he started from the beginning, explaining about Soul Society, Hollows, and Wholes. From there he went on to explain about the Gotei 13 and Aizen, concluding with why she found him almost dead on the street with a monster about to devour him. "And that's why, if you'll please excuse me, I have to rejoin the fight," said Toushirou, trying to stand up. When the world started spinning too much, he started falling, but was saved by Momo's gentle push back onto the bed.

She was silent, though, as she looked at him with worried eyes and chewed her bottom lip. "Um...I'm sorry,..."

"Hitsugaya Toushirou," he said quickly, eager to hear what the bad news was going to be so he could fix the problem and get back into the thick of things.

"Hitsugaya-san," said Momo, looking down at her hands. "You've been asleep for three weeks. The fight you were in must be over by now."

This time Toushirou's jaw did drop. _Three WEEKS?_ Which means they didn't win. Because if they had won, there was no doubt in Toushirou's mind that Soul Society would've already found him. He swallowed hard. "Please, Hinamori-chan, can you help me outside?"

Momo nodded, eyes wide. She could tell that this was very serious. She hooked an arm around his back, helping him stand. She took him outside of her room...and into a large hallway with a bunch of children running around and playing. Toushirou blinked. "Brothers and sisters?" he asked. But that wasn't right. They all looked too different to be related.

He turned to see Momo smiling at him. "I live in an orphanage. The staff found me on the doorstep when I was just a baby."

Toushirou looked away, not knowing what to say. Who could give up this girl, who seemed so kindhearted and innocent? "I-I'm sorry," he finally said.

"What are you sorry for?" Momo asked him. "You didn't do anything. Plus, the staff here is really nice."

"Are you talking to yourself, Hinamori?" asked a boy walking towards them. He had a mohawk and a lip ring...it was like looking at a wannabe punk from the 90s. He bumped into her, sending both she and Toushirou sprawling to the floor. "Stop being such a freak." He and his friends started laughing as they walked away.

Toushirou, finding a surprising burst of energy, sprang to his feet, shunpo'ed in front of the boy, and punched him in the face, making sure not to kill him. Instead, the boy only went flying into the wall behind him, his jaw broken. Toushirou then went back to Momo, this time helping her up and asking, "Are you okay?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Fine, thanks. Nice punch."

"Yeah, well," said Toushirou, inexplicably embarrassed. Never before had praise made him blush. "It kinda helps that he couldn't see me."

"Still," said Momo, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Thanks for sticking up to me."

As they walked outside, this time Toushirou doing so without help, he asked, "Why does he treat you like that? You seem to be really nice."

"That's my goal," said Momo. "I try to be nice to everybody, no matter how mean they are to me. He's just a bully. Unfortunately, being nice frequently means you're picked on."

Toushirou shook his head, amazed at how mean teenage boys could be, in Soul Society and in the human world. They finally made it outside, where Toushirou looked up towards where the fighting had been. Nothing was there and Toushirou couldn't sense any reiatsu. Not even one tiny bit. Just as he was about to turn away, not even wanting to look at the place his friends and comrades had been slain, a tiny pulse of a miniscule amount of reiatsu reached his senses. "Please, Hinamori-chan, grab my hand," he said urgently.

Momo, not fully understanding the gravity of the situation and blushing because of the fact that he asked her to grab his hand, sheepishly grabbed his surprisingly ice-cold hand. He tugged her to him and set off, using shunpo to get to the location of the reiatsu.

They stopped at the source, and Toushirou breathed, "Matsumoto," disbelievingly. His Fukutaichou was indeed alive...broken and almost dead, but alive. How she had survived three weeks was beyond him. Toushirou took a step toward Rangiku and immediately crumpled to the ground. It seemed that traveling more than ten feet using shunpo just took too much out of his weak and battered body.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Momo called, dropping to her knees at his side.

"Not me," he moaned. "Matsumoto."

Momo nodded, taking a step toward the downed woman...and a giant hand came out and smacked her, sending her flying toward the wall of a building. Toushirou quickly gathered the rest of his strength to shunpo and catch her, pushing his body to its limits. They fell on the ground, Toushirou breaking the fall for Momo with his own body.

_God Dammit_, he thought to himself as the now-familiar black began swallowing his vision. But before he passed out, they had to deal with the Hollow, which was only a normal fishbone Hollow. Toushirou had no doubt in his mind that the last Hollow had been caught by surprise—there was no way Momo would be able to kill this one with Hyourinmaru. Which left only kido. "Hinamori-chan, listen to me," he said. Momo nodded quickly and Toushirou continued. "Point one of your palms at the Hollow." Momo brought up a trembling hand. "Now, repeat after me."

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" he said, fighting off the encroaching black.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" said Momo surprisingly forcefully, not even hesitating one second.

"Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws," said Toushirou, hoping this would work.

"Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!" exclaimed Momo, her hand shaking more violently as the Hollow got closer.

"Hado number thirty-three, Soukatsui!" shouted Toushirou. He had sealed off his reiatsu, so nothing happened.

"Hado number thirty-three, Soukatsui!" cried Momo. A giant blue burst of spiritual energy erupted out of her palm, streaking toward and obliterating the Hollow...and destroying everything in its path, creating a ten-foot deep and progressively wider crater in the street.

For the second time that day, Toushirou's jaw dropped. That made it more times in one day than he had done it in over twenty years. That Soukatsui was more powerful than his. Now, he was no kido expert, but he was a Shinigami with captain-level reiatsu whereas this girl was just a human...a human who could be the third or second seat in the Kido Corps. Amazing.

Momo rushed over to Toushirou again, who only had time to choke out, "No...Matsumoto," before he passed out.

**A/N: Man, Toushirou's having a tough day.**

**Please review! The more you do the sooner Toushirou wakes up again!**

**Fukutaichou=Lieutenant Hado=Way of Destruction Soukatsui=Blue Fire, Crash Down**


	3. Sentou

**A/N: Sorry about the delay! I was going to type it a day earlier at about midnight (when I usually do my typing, it is actually 12:26 AM as I'm typing this now) but I fell asleep. :(**

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 3 – Sentou (The Beginning)**

Toushirou's eyes slowly opened, though thankfully this time nothing was blurry. What he wasn't as thankful for was the fact that he seemed to be in an alley. At least he was laying on something soft. He glanced down to see what it was, but almost immediately regretted it. He was laying on a filthy mattress, a few of the springs poking up through the top and what he was sure was a vomit stain just above his left elbow.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking to his right, which faced the brick wall at the end of the alley. There seemed to have been a clean mattress, for Rangiku was currently sleeping on it, her reiatsu much stronger than it had been before.

His body also seemed much stronger than before, but not quite 100 percent. Maybe he could lay off the shunpo for a while. After all, he would have to be in top shape if he wished to challenge Aizen again. But first he had to find out who survived the battle.

He didn't know where he could find any Shinigami and didn't know if Rangiku knew where anybody was. But he did know where he could find a _Substitute_ Shinigami. Just as he was about to leave, a shuffling sound alarmed him.

He whipped his head around to the mouth of the alley, where he saw the silhouette of a person. Toushirou, before drawing Hyourinmaru, reminded himself nobody could see him. He was in the human world.

The figure ran at them and jumped onto the mattress, startling Toushirou. "I went out and got some food, hope you guys like ramen!"

"Thank you," said Toushirou to Momo, who of course was the figure in the alley. She was the only one who could see them, and it wasn't as if some random person would stumble upon their alley and then run and jump onto the mattress.

He accepted the ramen, which came in a bag along with artificial flavoring, and opened it. He ate the whole bag, for he was surprisingly hungry, before standing up. "Where are you going?" asked Momo.

"To a friend's house," replied Toushirou simply. "I'm going to find out what happened here."

Momo looked down at Rangiku, then asked, "Would you like some company?"

Toushirou's first instinct was to say yes, and he didn't know why. Instead, he decided to think it through and ended up saying, "No. You need to stay with Matsumoto and make sure nothing happens to her. Alright?"

Momo looked up at him, smiled, and nodded. She understood the importance of this woman, she was just like him.

With a nod to Momo Toushirou left the alley, setting off toward Ichigo's house.

He jumped up to Ichigo's window and looked inside, but the orange-haired teen wasn't in there. Sighing, he went downstairs and knocked on the door, forgetting that humans couldn't see him.

A girl who looked to be about twelve with dark hair and red-rimmed eyes opened the door and scowled. "What do you want, runt?"

"I need to see Ichigo K—"

_Slap!_ Toushirou recoiled as the girl's hand made contact with his face. "What the hell was that for?"

"It's all your fault," the girl said dangerously.

"What's all my fault?" asked Toushirou menacingly, his temper starting to rise.

"What do you think?" she screamed. "Ichigo goes off dressing just like you crazy people and killing monsters with a giant sword, and now he's dead!"

Those last four words hit Toushirou harder than the girl's slap. _Kurosaki...is...dead? _"Dead?" he numbly repeated.

"Don't play dumb," the girl spat before kneeing Toushirou hard in the gut, dropping him to his knees. That knee was surprisingly painful. "Stay away from all of us," said the girl before slamming the door in Toushirou's face.

"Ow," he said quietly before standing up again and leaning on the door. So Ichigo was dead. Which was bad. Ichigo was the only person who hadn't seen Kyouka Suigetsu and could potentially match Aizen in a fight. And Aizen had slain his soul, which meant no trip to Soul Society for him. Ichigo was gone...winning this war now seemed to be a thousand times harder.

Just as he was leaving he bumped into a man wearing scrubs with gloves on his hands. "Hitsugaya-taichou," the man said thoughtfully. "Glad to see at least one of you survived."

Toushirou squinted up at the man before his eyes widened. "Kurosaki...taichou?" he asked disbelievingly.

"The one and only," the man said, no hint of humor in his voice for once. "Still not enough to help Ichigo. I can't believe he's actually gone...I never thought..."

"Nobody thinks that way," said Toushirou simply. "People may say they do, the eleventh squad says they do, but nobody really expects that _they'll_ be the one to die in battle. It'll always be the person next to them." Realizing he wasn't really helping, Toushirou said, "He fought bravely...fought to stop a madman. He died an honorable death."

"An honorable death for a a group of people he didn't really belong to," said Isshin. "He didn't get the chance to live a full life before giving it up for Seireitei. He deserved better."

"I truly am sorry for your loss, Kurosaki-taichou," said Toushirou, bowing his head at the man respectfully. "I must be on my way now."

He began to walk past Isshin, but felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait," he said. "Just what are you planning on doing?"

Toushirou looked up at him, a glint in his eye. "What do you think I plan on doing," he said, not making it a question.

Without waiting for an answer, he began walking back toward the alley where Momo and Rangiku were located to regroup. His one lead on what had happened in the battle was dead...not to mention a valuable asset.

Sighing, he turned the corner of the alley and the two came into sight, Momo sponging Rangiku's head much like she had done to his own. "How is she?" he asked.

"Not bad," said Momo, not looking up from her sponging. "I think she'll wake up soon."

Toushirou sighed, wishing he didn't have to say the words he was about to speak. He felt strangely attached to this Momo girl, she fascinated him. But it was for the best. "You should probably leave."

"What are you going to do?" asked Momo, thinking he meant she would only be leaving for a second.

"I'm going to take back Seireitei," said Toushirou. "Which is very dangerous. Which means you aren't coming."

Momo stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "And why am I not coming just because it's dangerous?"

"You're a human," said Toushirou. "You don't hold any stock in this war. It'll be much safer and smarter for you to go back home."

Momo looked down and quietly said, "I don't have a home."

"What about the orphanage?" he asked.

"It's great, but..." she trailed off. "I get bullied there, and I don't think you can consider a place home unless you feel completely at ease there. All I've wanted my whole life is to escape and go off on an adventure. And, to be honest, I feel oddly attached to you. I want to go with you."

Toushirou sighed, pushing the heel of his hands into his eyes. It was really a bad idea to bring along a human...but she had proved she wasn't a normal human. If she learned a few incantations, she could take care of herself. Hell, she could even be an asset. Because it was purely her value in the upcoming battle that influenced his decision...right?

"I..." he said, looking at Momo, who was looking at him expectantly. _Do it now...you know her coming along isn't going to end well_. "You know the most likely outcome of this venture is death, right?" Momo nodded and Toushirou swallowed. "As long as you're aware," he finally said, hoping he wouldn't regret it later.

"Yay!" cried Momo, leaping forward and hugging Toushirou, who was shocked. Momo stiffened as she realized what she was doing, then pulled back and cleared her throat. "Thanks," she simply said, her face a bit pink.

"My only condition is that you study some Kido spells," said Toushirou.

"Kido?" asked Momo.

"The Demon Arts," replied Toushirou. "It's what you used to heal me and Matsumoto and kill that Hollow."

"I can do that," said Momo, nodding. "I want to be able to help, not just be dead weight."

Toushirou nodded before sitting down on the mattress he woke up on, staring at Rangiku. He was surprised and pleased that his fukutaichou had survived. It made him think that there were definitely more survivors from the battle, he just needed to find where they were. The Shinigami had discussed a rendezvous point in the real world in case something happened while on a mission there, but it hadn't been changed since Aizen had been part of the Shinigami's ranks. The rendezvous point was surely guarded now, which meant it was no longer safe. It just kept getting bleaker and bleaker.

"What's the matter?" asked Momo from her seat next to him, startling him...not that he let it show.

"This mission," said Toushirou. "It's looking more and more impossible by the minute."

"You should never let that stop you," said Momo determinedly. "You should only use it to make yourself try harder."

"I know, but..." said Toushirou, who couldn't believe he was sharing his feelings, which he didn't even share with his friends, with a girl he had only known for about a day. "But this time, I think the amount of effort doesn't really matter."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Momo, narrowing her eyes.

"Maybe we should give up," said Toushirou. "Just live in the human world, Matsumoto and I, instead of storming Soul Society and getting killed."

"Nonsense...taichou," said a weak voice from the clean mattress. "I can't believe...you would talk like that."

"Matsumoto!" exclaimed Toushirou, going to her side. "Do you remember anything from the battle?" he asked, getting straight to business.

"I'm fine, thanks," said Rangiku as sarcastically as she could manage. "And no, the last thing I remember is getting hit by the giant thing those three wenches called forth."

Toushirou growled in frustration, punching the mattress. Just as he was about to respond, a voice cut through their conversation.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you needed help finding a few Shinigami."

**A/N: I'm not too satisfied with this chapter, I just couldn't seem to articulate what I wanted to write. Damn writer's block.**

**Please review!**


	4. A Fortunate Encounter

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait, but I had a massive case of writer's block! Arrgh! It's all good now though, I know how most of the story is going to go!**

**Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4 – A Fortunate Encounter**

_"I couldn't help but overhear that you needed help finding a few Shinigami."_

Toushirou whirled around, his hand on Hyourinmaru's hilt, only to find Kisuke Urahara standing in his green-striped hat.

"U-Urahara-san?" said Toushirou, relieved. There was no telling who it could've been, especially considering the fact that Karakura Town was devoid of all life.

"Correct!" he said jovially, bowing at them. "And you're lucky it was only me," he continued, this time serious.

"What do you mean?" Toushirou asked, looking around the alley though there was nothing to see but Momo and Rangiku.

"I found you three so easily," replied Urahara. "All I had to do was follow the reiatsu."

"That's impossible," said Toushirou. "I've been masking mine and Matsumoto's is too weak unless you're within a few feet."

"Hitsugaya-taichou," said Urahara, shaking his head. "Search for it."

Toushirou let himself feel for reiatsu around him and his eyes widened before he whipped his head around to look at Momo. Her reiatsu was astronomical for a human, equaling that of a Vice Captain. The only thing about it was that it felt different than a Shinigami's. It had a human edge to it—the same human edge that Ichigo's had when he was in his human form. Toushirou couldn't believe he hadn't felt it before, it was a beginner's error. "H…Hinamori-chan?" he asked, looking wide-eyed back at Urahara.

"Two for two!" said Urahara, flipping his fan out and waving it in his direction a few times. "I can't believe you made such a beginner's error!"

"Uruse!" said Toushirou. "Will you hurry up and put a masking barrier around her?" Momo would have to be taught to hide her reiatsu as soon as possible.

"Very well, very well," said Urahara. "Now how about you three get up and I'll do it on the way to the hideout?"

"The hideout?" asked Momo. "Hitsugaya-kun, what's going on?"

"It's alright, Hinamori-chan, he's on our side," said Toushirou. "We'll just be going back to his sweets shop."

"I said hideout," said Urahara. "Not sweets shop. Aizen knows where my sweets shop is."

"So where's the hideout?" asked Rangiku.

* * *

><p>"Ta-da!" exclaimed Urahara, gesturing to the building behind him.<p>

"You've got to be kidding me," said Toushirou, eyeing the sign on the front of the shop. It was another sweets shop, just in another part of town.

"I know. Amazing, isn't it?" asked Urahara.

"It looks great!" cried Momo, grabbing Toushirou's hand and dragging him into the shop. "Candy!"

Toushirou sighed and was dragged throughout the shop reluctantly, Momo 'ooh!'ing and 'ahh!'ing at everything! It was as if she had never been in a candy shop before. Toushirou felt pity when he realized she probably hadn't. But at that moment, the fact that it was Momo's first time in a candy shop didn't really matter.

"Isn't this a bit obvious?" asked Toushirou of Urahara, not letting go of Momo's hand.

"Not really," said Urahara, shrugging. "There are plenty of sweet shops. I don't think Aizen would expect me to do something as stupid as this."

"Brilliant!" said Rangiku weakly before coughing up a bit of blood. She was obviously still very weak.

Toushirou had to (reluctantly) let go of Momo's hand to go to his Vice Captain. "Hinamori-chan, come here quick!" he said as Rangiku lost consciousness.

"It's all right, Hitsugaya-san," said a kind voice from behind them. Toushirou turned around to find Unohana standing behind them, her kind smile on her face. "I can take care of your fukutaichou. Why don't you go downstairs and join the others?"

_The others?_ thought Toushirou, relieved. So some of the others had survived! This time Toushirou grabbed Momo's hand and pulled her downstairs to the basement (a basement much like the one in his old shop) with him. What met Toushirou's eyes was…a bit of a disappointment, to say the least.

Sitting there were Yoruichi, Tessai, Ururu and Jinta. Along with them was Hiyori, Nanao, and…"Ahh…Hitsugaya-san, I see you finally found an interest in the opposite sex," said Kyouraku, smiling from under his hat.

Toushirou quickly let go of Momo's hand, both of them looking down at the ground and blushing. "She's just a human I met. We're…friends," he said, glancing over at Momo, who smiled at him, for some reason making him blush again.-

"I see," said Kyouraku thoughtfully, lowering his head and the brim of his hat to smirk at the ground.

"Kyouraku-taichou," said Nanao briskly, pushing her glasses back to the top of her nose. "Now is not the time for such things. We must work on what our next step is!" she finished, hitting her captain on the head with the thick book she had been reading.

As Kyouraku rubbed the back of his head, he smiled at his Vice Captain and said, "Of course, Nanao-chan. You're absolutely right."

"I need to know what happened first," said Toushirou, joining the circle along with Momo, who looked a bit frightened.

"Let's see," said Hiyori, scratching her head. She jumped up and kicked Toushirou in the face knocking him down. "We got obliterated! That's what happened, dickhead!"

"Settle down, settle down," said Tessai.

"Let's see," said Kyouraku thoughtfully. "Aizen got us, killed Kurosaki-san, almost killed you, then Yama-jii showed up. While they were fighting, Unohana-san grabbed me and Sarugaki-chan and fled. Unohana-san was already healing Sarugaki-chan and I was the most alive out of the rest of us, so I was taken with. Nanao-chan showed up here a few days after I woke up, which was two weeks ago."

"I had been watching the battle and followed Unohana-taichou," elaborated Nanao. "But I lost her. Kyouraku-taichou's reiatsu flared for an instant, but that was enough to find him."

"Oh, Nanao-chan knows me so well!" said Kyouraku, a beaming smile on his face…until the book hit said face. For some reason, Nanao's cheeks were pink as she stared down at her captain.

"Oh, shut up!" said Jinta. "Enough about that. We need to know what to do next!"

"You, Ururu, and Tessai are going to hold down the fort," said Urahara from the bottom of the stairs. As he walked toward the circle. "While the rest of us find the other Shinigami."

"The…others?" asked Toushirou.

"The ones who got out of Hueco Mundo," explained Urahara. "Two Gargantas were opened. Only one of them was by Aizen, and that was from the Soul Society where he was creating the Ouken. There was another one from Hueco Mundo to the human world, somewhere near Tokyo. The survivors."

"Who's in that group?" asked Toushirou.

"Well, assuming they all survived, there's Kuchiki-taichou, Zaraki-taichou, Kurotsuchi-taichou, Abarai-fukutaichou, Kusajishi-fukutaichou, Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou, Kotetsu-fukutaichou, Kuchiki-san, Sado-san, Ishida-san, and Inoue-chan," said Urahara.

"We definitely need to find them," said Nanao.

"Wait," said Ururu quietly, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "What about Yoruichi-san?"

Toushirou was just about to say 'what _about_ Yoruichi-san?' when he looked at the former captain of the second squad.

She was sitting motionless, head down, eyes looking at the second squad's haori…Soi fon-taichou's haori. It was ripped with a dark bloodstain along the rip, and it was freshly coated with drops of water. Toushirou realized with a start that the drops of water were Yoruichi's tears.

"Yoruichi-san?" asked Urahara, squatting in front of her. "Yoruichi-san? You ready to get your revenge yet?" After several seconds passed with no response, he said, "Yoruichi-san will be staying here, then."

As Urahara stepped away from Yoruichi, Toushirou saw Hiyori bend down in front of Momo, their faces inches apart. "And what of the human girl?" she asked. "She looks brittle."

"Hinamori-chan knows what she is getting into and can take care of herself," said Toushirou. "I just need to work on a couple things with her."

"Take care of herself, can she?" asked Hiyori disbelievingly. "Leave her behind…she's nothing but dead weight. She doesn't even have a drop of reiatsu. I'm surprised she can even see us."

Toushirou saw Momo glare at the annoying girl and he was about to say something, but Momo beat him to the punch. "I…I _can _take care of myself!" she said in a strong voice, standing up to glare down at Hiyori.

"Oh yeah?" said Hiyori, sneering. "Why don't you prove it?"

Nothing happened for a few seconds and Hiyori snorted. "See, look what I—"

The rest of what she was going to say was cut off as she was knocked flat on her face from Momo's reiatsu breaking Urahara's barrier and exploding outward. Everyone watched in awe as Momo recited the incantation for Soukatsui perfectly and release the giant blast of blue energy, almost bringing the whole place down as it hit a wall.

"Woah, woah, woah!" cried Urahara. "Tessai, set up a proper masking barrier, will you?"

"Sure thing, boss," said Tessai, doing as instructed.

"We can take it off when she can learn how to hide her own reiatsu," explained Urahara. "For now, I say we keep her. As long as she knows what she's getting into and is willing to go along, she could prove to be a very valuable asset, especially with the small amount of numbers we have."

"I second the motion," said Hiyori strongly before Toushirou had a chance to do so.

"All agreed then?" asked Kyouraku.

There was no dissent, so Urahara said, "Well then, Hinamori-san. Welcome to the squad."

"Arigatou," Momo replied, bowing her head in thanks.

"We'll leave tomorrow at dawn," said Urahara. "Until then, Hitsugaya-san will need to teach her what she needs to be taught.

* * *

><p>"All right, Hinamori-chan," said Toushirou. Everyone had gone upstairs after proper introductions and Unohana had popped downstairs to tell Toushirou that Rangiku was going to be perfectly fine after a night's rest. "I removed the reiatsu-concealing barrier around you and placed one around the whole basement, so I can feel yours and know if you're doing the exercise correctly."<p>

"I'm going to be masking my reiatsu?" asked Momo. Toushirou nodded and Momo's eyebrows furrowed. "What exactly is reiatsu?"

"Basically," started Toushirou, "the more reiatsu you have, the stronger your soul is. You're harder to cut with a zanpakutou, you can use higher level Kido, and your Kido is more powerful."

"Kido is what I used to kill that Hollow, right?" asked Momo.

"Correct," replied Toushirou. "But the higher your reiatsu is, the easier you are to track."

"Which is why I have to work on hiding it," concluded Momo.

"Exactly," said Toushirou. "Now…let's see…you should close your eyes and empty your mind." Momo did as instructed. "Focus on slowing down your breathing and feel for your reiatsu. I can't exactly explain what it feels like. You'll just know when you feel it."

Momo nodded, trying her hardest to do as Toushirou said. But it was harder than she thought. She couldn't even clear her mind. As soon as she banished all thoughts from her head she got the feeling that Toushirou was staring at her. Which he probably was, since they were the only two in the whole basement. Wait, they were all alone? They were all alone and Toushirou was staring at her. Now her cheeks were heating up. She was blushing furiously.

Toushirou watched Momo as she tried to follow his instructions. For some reason she started blushing, her cheeks flaming. And then Toushirou started blushing as he realized why she was blushing. Toushirou cleared his throat uncomfortably and Momo opened her eyes. "Um…Hitsugaya-kun…would you…um?" she practically squeaked.

"Y-yeah…sure," said Toushirou with a dry throat, turning around.

Momo was surprised Toushirou knew what she was asking through her squeaks, but nevertheless closed her eyes, willed her cheeks to stop flaming, and focused on clearing her mind again.

…It was going to be a long night.

**A/N: Well, there you go! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Don't forget to review! I love reviews!**


	5. Reunited

**A/N: Hello all, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 5 - Reunited**

"Toushirou?" said Momo from the young Shinigami's right.

"Yes, Hinamori-chan?" he responded, looking past her through the window.

"Th-these things are safe, right?" Momo asked in a timid voice.

"Of course they are," replied Toushirou, stretching his body as he tried to get used to the feel of the gigai he was currently inhabiting. "People ride in them all the time."

"Really?" asked Momo a little less tensely, her body visibly relaxing.

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine," Toushirou reassured her.

Momo smiled at him and he gave her a half-smile in return. The airplane rattled a bit as it taxied to the runway, and Momo stiffened back up and gripped her armrests tight. That grip tightened as the plane gathered speed and when it finally took off, Momo squeaked and grabbed Toushirou's hand in a death grip. Instead of allowing the pain to show on his face, he lightly squeezed her hand back and gave her a small, reassuring smile. Momo's grip gradually slackened as her face slowly turned a lovely shade of pink.

A sudden flash interrupted the moment, and Toushirou quickly snatched his hand back from Momo's as his face turned beet red. "Matsumoto!" he said dangerously to the buxom woman, who was occupying the seat on his left.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I was just taking some pictures so we would remember this trip."

"Give me the camera," Toushirou demanded.

"But taichou!" Rangiku whined and took the offending camera from the front of her shihakushou. "The two of you look so cute together! That picture would look great in the Seireitei Bulletin!"

"I don't care how it would look in the Seireitei Bulletin," said Toushirou through clenched teeth. "Give. Me. The. Camera...NOW!"

Rangiku sighed in defeat and handed the disposable camera over to Toushirou, who dropped it on the floor and crushed it with his feet.

As Rangiku sullenly opened the fashion magazine she had picked up in the airport, Toushirou pulled a book out of his bag and handed it to Momo. "Read it and memorize as much as you can as fast as you can," he told her. "You're going to need to know this as soon as possible."

Momo nodded and opened the book, which explained the principles and mechanics of kido along with every kido and its incantation.

* * *

><p>"Ooh!" said Momo and Rangiku in unison as they stepped out of the airport and were faced with the skyscrapers of Tokyo along with the equally impressive sight of Mt. Fuji in the background.<p>

"Come on, you two," said Toushirou in annoyance as the rest of their party stepped outside.

"Yes," said Urahara. "Better stick close. Wouldn't want to get lost now." He took out a map and studied it for a second before saying. "Shinigami secret Tokyo hideout..." he turned left, took a step, then turned back around to the right. "This way."

They followed Urahara as he wove through the crowd on the sidewalks. The walk to the hideout went pretty smoothly except when Kyouraku took another book to the face after trying to hold Nanao's hand ("So cold!"). They walked for a little over an hour, stopping at a giant warehouse on the outskirts of the city. "Right in here!" Urahara declared proudly.

They opened the doors, which slid open with ominous creaks. It was pitch black inside except for the small part illuminated by the open door. "That's odd," commented Toushirou, reaching over and flipping on the light switch. The inside of the warehouse was huge and completely empty, giving off even more ominous vibes. But not quite as many ominous vibes as the bloodstains on the wall and a..."Is that...Zaraki-taichou's...haori?" asked Nanao.

Indeed it was, noticed Toushirou. Near the front of the door was Kenpachi's haori, bloodstained and torn. All of them except for Momo quickly ate a piece of soul candy and unsheathed their zanpakutou, ready for the unseen enemies. They walked to the middle of the warehouse as a group, trying to find out what had happened. Urahara broke off and walked over to a bloodstain before wiping some of the blood off with his bare hand. "It's still fresh," he commented thoughtfully. "And definitely Hollow's blood."

There was a very quiet noise from above and Urahara suddenly jumped as a giant red cero struck where he had just been standing. They all looked up to find that there were Hollows pouring out of a closing garganta with menos in the rear.

Then the lights went out and the Hollows were on them, almost overwhelming them immediately with sheer numbers. Toushirou used his bankai as the rest of the Shinigami at least released their zanpakutou. Toushirou made sure to stay next to Momo, who was firing a barrage of Kido off without saying the incantations. A particularly quick Hollow's claws came slamming in Toushirou's direction, and he just barely managed to dodge them by flying up just as the lights were turned on. What met his eyes wasn't pretty. The place was completely packed with Hollows and the menos had them completely surrounded, their ceros ready.

Toushirou kicked up his reiatsu a notch and killed the fast Hollow just as he realized he had abandoned Momo. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he watched a muscular, vaguely humanoid Hollow cock its fist back to throw a punch at the human. Toushirou shot off in Momo's direction, but knew it was too late. There was no way he was going to make it to her in time. She was going to die and it was all his fault.

The fist was getting closer and closer and was only a foot away when there was suddenly another body in front of the fist. The Hollow's hand connected with Hiyori's zanpakutou, and as the Hollow staggered back, was slain by the young-looking vizard. Toushirou watched in awe as Hiyori went back-to-back with Momo, protecting her back with everything she had.

Five Hollows swarming down on him caused Toushirou to look away so he could focus on protecting his own life. He took four down with ease, but just as he sliced through the fifth, its fist connected with Toushirou's face, sending him hurtling to the floor. He hit the floor hard and saw the last of the normal Hollows get slain with a swing of Kyouraku's swords. But nobody had attacked the menos. The menos whose ceros were already primed to fire. Great. Just great.

The group took up defensive stances, Toushirou cocooning himself and Momo in ice. They waited...and waited some more...and waited some more...until the menos fell to the ground in pieces and dissolved.

Toushirou sighed in relief as he let the ice break, freeing himself and Momo. "Did you miss us?" asked the humor-filled voce of Kenpachi Zaraki from the doorway.

The Hueco Mundo party entered the building, all of its members alive and intact. "What took you guys so long?" asked Kyouraku.

"Actually, we arrived just on time," Uryuu informed them as he stepped to the front. "We had escaped an attack from the same Hollows when we first arrived. We snuck back in and put Zaraki-taichou's haori on the ground as warning to unsheathe your zanpakutous and get ready for a fight. We waited for you guys to arrive after assuming that Urahara-san would know our location, then waited some more until just the menos were left. That way we could take them out while they were preoccupied with the prospect of easy kills, your group having just exhausted yourselves taking out the hundreds of Hollows."

"I see," said Unohana, whose appearance was spotless. "So you essentially used us as bait."

"Essentially," said Byakuya.

The groups converged in the center of the warehouse and Rukia, who was standing on the outer edge of the group, asked, "Hitsugaya-taichou, where's Ichigo?"

As the Hueco Mundo group looked on in interest, the Urahara group fell silent and looked at the ground. Rukia, not wanting to believe what their body language said, cried, "Tell me where he is!"

There was a sickening sound as a bloody, clawed hand shot out of Rukia's chest. They all looked behind her to find Grimmjow with a grin on his face. "He's dead, little girl," he said nastily before pulling his hand back through Rukia's body, allowing her to fall on the ground.

"Rukia!" Orihime, Uryuu, and Renji all called as the latter dropped to his knees at her side.

"Pathetic ant," sneered Grimmjow. "Who's next?"

"Scatter him, Senbonzakura," said Byakuya, whose eyes were blood red. Toushirou watched in shock and awe as Senbonzakura's thousand blades appeared, except something was different, as was Byakuya's shikai release command.

The thousand blades were a deep, blood red, matching Byakuya's eyes. "Ha!" said Grimmjow. "Is that the best you can do! I already know all about your zanpakutou, Kuchiki Byakuya, and I already know that there is no way that that pathetic thing can-"

Grimmjow was stopped short as the blades reverted back to Byakuya's sword. Toushirou was confused for a second until blood erupted from every square inch of Grimmjow's body before there was nothing left where he had stood except for a few small pieces, the largest of which was approximately the size of one of Toushirou's cuticles.

"There's no way this pathetic thing can what?" Byakuya asked as he sheathed his sword. "Touch you? Hurt you? Kill you?" With that, he went to Rukia's side, where Orihime was trying her best to heal her. There was nothing Unohana would be able to do about a wound of that magnitude.

"Pure hate shikai release," commented Urahara and Mayuri Kurotsuchi at the same time. "I've never seen it done before," said Urahara.

"Pure hate...shikai release?" asked Toushirou in a shaky voice. The reiatsu Byakuya had been giving off was absolute, pure evil and one hundred times stronger than that of his usual reiatsu.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Mayuri informed him. "It usually only happens when a loved one is killed, such as now, and can only be performed by someone of a captain's level. I would explain further, but...now isn't really the appropriate time and I think even your small brain can put what you just saw and what I just said together."

Toushirou decided to let the insult slide as he looked over at Momo, who was looking back and forth between the remaining pieces of Grimmjow and the dying body of Rukia.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Fine," said Momo even though she clearly wasn't. "Wh-what did that six mean that was on his back? I only saw it for a second, but it was clearly a six."

Toushirou stopped for a second before looking at Urahara, who was looking back at him with slightly widened eyes. _Six?_ That meant that Grimmjow was still espada number six. Which didn't make sense if numbers one through five had been killed. That could only mean that there were still five espada stronger than Grimmjow. Yet it was impossible to make espada that quickly. That could only mean...that could only mean that Aizen had done another thing that was unthinkable. That could only mean-

"Orihime! Why isn't it working?" shouted Renji.

"I'm trying!" cried Orihime, who had tears running down her face. "There's too much evil reiatsu!"

Everyone was gathered around Rukia, whose eyes were flittering. Toushirou watched as she breathed, "Ichigo."

A small smile appeared on her face as her eyes closed for the last time.

**A/N: Before you flame me and say you hate me, don't forget that I did warn you about characters dying. Believe me, I love Rukia, but this was the only way that I could get the chapter and story I wanted.**

**Please review!**


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